“Starlight in a Dark Sky: Breadcrumbs to the Stars,” by Jerry Behimino, is a young adult fiction novel that focuses on the life of Elina Fomes as she copes with the absence of her father while he’s on a deployment with the Navy. (Jerry Behimino)
The confusion and uncertainty of life as a teenager can easily clash with the complexities of military life, something a recently retired U.S. sailor’s debut novel seeks to capture in “Starlight in a Dark Sky: Breadcrumbs to the Stars.”
Jerry Behimino’s recently self-published young adult novel places readers in the shoes of Elina Fomes as she navigates daily life while her father is on an extended deployment just days after the 9/11 attacks.
Behimino layers his story, set in Virginia, with an abundance of early-2000s pop culture references.
Fomes pushes through her father’s absence by creating her own community of friends and, eventually, an underground zine dubbed “Starlight in a Dark Sky.”
The eponymous zine becomes a journal and lifeline for the main character, while simultaneously attracting a variety of submissions from others and ultimately creating a community of its own.
Behimino, 49, recently retired from Naval Forces Japan, began working with the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station – Far East at Yokosuka. He said the book was his way of honoring “kids who learned to find their voices in the in-between moments.”
Jerry Behimino, seen here in his official Navy profile photo, released his debut young adult novel, “Starlight In a Dark Sky: Breadcrumbs to the Stars,” in August 2025. (U.S. Navy)
“I grew up around military life, and I know the silences, the waiting, and the little ways families keep themselves together,” he said by email Oct. 2.
The novel draws on themes from his own experience as a naval officer whose deployments often interfered with his family life. His choice of 2001 as the setting for his book was also drawn from his own life.
“The most vivid memories I carry are of those ordinary moments at Lynnhaven Mall and the Navy Exchange in the days just before and after the [9/11] attacks,” he said.
The heartwarming story is peppered with almost too many nostalgic references from that era, from Tamagotchi pets and Eggo waffles to “The Matrix” and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. A Blink-182 concert even serves as the setting for the story’s climax.
Behimino, however, said the references went beyond nostalgia, instead being the “everyday breadcrumbs” everyone followed at the time.
“For teenagers, especially in military families, mixtapes, AIM chats, concert tickets, and mall or base hangouts weren’t just trends; they were how we navigated belonging, connection, and identity in the early 2000s,” he said.
He plans to write additional novels, including “an adventure novel I’ve carried with me for nearly three decades and am now finally bringing to the page.”
However, he emphasized that “Starlight” was his tribute to military families.
“If this story sparks recognition, conversation, or comfort for even a few readers, especially within our Navy and military community, then it has done its job,” he wrote.